My contacts at BA tell me they are over whelmed by the responce that Concorde will be retired later this year.
One of the events being considered is a 4 ship formation. They can’t get all 5 up for some reason, but they are activley looking at 4! Sounds like fun.
By: whalebone - 6th May 2003 at 11:41
I think Sir Richard has a very valid point regarding the £2 he is prepared to pay.
When you consider the amount that the taxpayer had to fork out to build the thing in the first place and the government (i.e. taxpayers) cash that BA and in its previous incarnations over the years has pocketed, I think they have got a bit of a cheek to say that only they(BA) can decide the old girls fate.
This below is pasted from the BBC News website 05/05/03
“Minister’s interest in Concorde plan”
Could Concorde live on?
Trade secretary Patricia Hewitt says she is “very interested” in Sir Richard Branson’s bid to take over the running of Concorde.
British Airways is stopping the supersonic service later this year because it is no longer profitable.
But Sir Richard, owner of Virgin Atlantic, believes his company can make Concorde a success.
Ms Hewitt told BBC Radio 4’s the Westminster Hour she had not yet received a proposal from Sir Richard.
Concorde is a great ambassador to Britain and should be in the air and not broken up and sold
Sir Richard Branson
Virgin Atlantic
But she added: “I shall be very interested indeed to look at any proposition from Richard Branson.
“I haven’t had one yet but I will look at it and discuss the idea with Alistair Darling (the transport secretary).”
Asked why she believed BA had decided not to fly Concorde anymore Ms Hewitt said: “That is an extremely interesting and important question and one that I shall be very happy to discuss with Richard Branson.”
25 years left
Sir Richard claims he can make Concorde more profitable and cheaper for passengers and said his Virgin Group was “extremely determined” to keep it flying despite a plan by British Airways and Air France to halt flights from October.
Sir Richard, speaking at a press conference at Gatwick airport, said he hoped to hold talks with Ms Hewitt to ask for government intervention to prevent BA selling off the aircraft to museums and private firms.
“We do not think that it will be that difficult to make Concorde pay
Sir Richard Branson
He held out the possibility of an alliance between his group, BA and Air France.
Sir Richard said BA were being “obstructive” saying they were “concerned about Virgin making a success of it, having decided to close it down”.
He said: “We believe it has potential and as much as 20 to 25 years of good flying life left in it.
“Concorde is a great ambassador to Britain and should be in the air and not broken up and sold.”
Money spinner
Virgin’s plan would be to introduce a standard class fare, cheaper than current prices, but with first class becoming more expensive.
“However cheap you make the fares, we are never going to have enormous quantities of people being able to fly it. More people will be able to, but obviously most people will not.”
Sir Richard’s first priority now was to enter into talks with the government.
“We are not asking for any money from the government. We will just be asking the Government to intervene so that what was paid for by the British taxpayer is not broken up,”
Sir Richard said. “The interesting thing about Concorde is that it has been extremely profitable. They made something like three-quarters of a billion pounds out of Concorde.
“Maybe last year they might have had a difficult year… but last year was an exceptional year and you do not get rid of a beautiful plane for ever based on one year’s trading.
“We do not think that it will be that difficult to make Concorde pay.”
Publicity stunt
Speaking later to BBC News 24, Sir Richard denied the Concorde plan was a publicity stunt.
“We actually think that using Virgin’s flair for publicity and marketing skills, the team of people we have around us, the lower cost base, we can make a go of it.”
But, he added, Virgin would not be making a large cash offer for the fleet of planes, which, he said, had been handed to British Airways by the government for a nominal sum.
“We are willing to pay exactly what British Airways paid for it, which is £2.”
By: A330Crazy - 6th May 2003 at 11:20
Richard Branson is now seeking to get goverment help… take a look at the thread on the Airlinerworld forum…
http://www.keypublishing.com/forum/showthread.php?threadid=12084
By: Victor1 - 6th May 2003 at 09:33
I believe BA engineered a clause to prevent the sale of any Concorde to a rival operator.
By: Bob - 5th May 2003 at 21:12
Hmm, with announcement in the news that the government would look favourably at any bid to keep Concorde flying, and Richard Branson still expressing interest could it be possible we will see Virgin liveried Concordes in this very formation soon?
Now it would be embarrassing for BA if Virgin managed to operate the fleet for less and still make a profit!
I for one hope this isn’t the end.
By: A330Crazy - 30th April 2003 at 13:00
That would be a great way to give the old bird a good sending off. As for the last time that they did this… 4 in formation, I have a pic in my collection… shown below.
By: Firebird - 30th April 2003 at 12:51
This has been done before, although I can’t remember the occasion, but I seem to remember it was a Christmas Day or Boxing Day, sometime around the mid-80’s….
BA drew random names from their payrol computer and a good friend of my was one of the lucky ones chosen. As a long time avaition enthusiast/spotter he was chuffed to bits, I remember him saying the fighter style break-up of the 4 – ship formation was pretty spectacular……:D 😀
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April 30, 2003 at 12:33 pm